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The Defence Secretary has said that “proscription is not a matter for now” in relation to the UK’s ban on the group that has taken power in Syria. John Healey said that the Government’s “interest” in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is “that they live up to their promises to protect” rights, when he spoke to reporters after a Cobra meeting on Thursday. HTS is banned in the UK because of its past association with al Qaida, the terrorist organisation once led by Osama bin Laden. But its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, cut ties with al Qaida years ago and has sought to present his group as a more moderate and inclusive organisation, leading some to suggest the group should no longer be proscribed. “It doesn’t stop us talking to all the parties, and our interest in HTS is that they live up to their promises to protect the rights of all individuals and all groups, to respect international law and to prevent Syria becoming a base for a fresh terrorist threat.” Mr Healey said that Thursday’s meeting was “about making sure we have, as a Government, a laser focus on the role that we can play with allies to see a stable, peaceful transition. “So that the Syrians get the government they need for the future, and the region can see the stability in the future that it also needs.” Following the toppling of the Bashar Assad regime over the weekend, the UK has paused decisions on asylum applications from Syria. Thousands of Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK but, earlier this week, the Home Office said decisions on applications would be paused while events unfold in Damascus. When asked how long the system would be paused for, and whether the move was fair, Mr Healey said on Thursday: “This is early days. “It’s a measure in response to rapidly changing developments, and the most important thing for us now is that the UK plays and will continue to play a full role with allies to see a stable, peaceful, orderly transition and that requires a political process. “It requires dialogue at the heart of it, and today’s ministerial meeting, the Cobra meeting, was about making sure that we do just that.” Earlier on Thursday, G7 leaders said that they “stand with the people of Syria” and “denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms”. In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer and his counterparts said: “The G7 will work with and fully support a future Syrian government that abides by those standards and results from that process.” It went on: “After decades of atrocities committed by the Assad regime, we stand with the people of Syria. We denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms. “We are hopeful that anyone seeking a role in governing Syria will demonstrate a commitment to the rights of all Syrians, prevent the collapse of state institutions, work on the recovery and rehabilitation of the country, and ensure the conditions for safe and dignified voluntary return to Syria of all those who were forced to flee the country.”Jackson State (11-2) claimed the conference title for the fourth time and will play MEAC champion South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 14 in Atlanta. Southern (8-5) led 10-3 late in the second quarter before Jackson State ended the half on an Emari Matthews 2-yard touchdown run and followed it up with Mulligan's 1-yard TD run to open the third quarter. Now leading 17-10, the Tigers added Gerardo Baeza's 45-yard field goal and Zy McDonald's 23-yard touchdown run to take a 27-10 lead into the fourth quarter. Jackson State wrapped up the conference title with two touchdowns in the final 6 1/2 minutes. The Jaguars' 28-yard field goal by Joshua Griffin in the fourth quarter marked the end of a six-game streak in which Jackson State had not allowed a point in the final period. Also, Southern was only the third team since Oct. 5 to score in the second half against Jackson State. In addition to Muligan's 116 yards on the ground, McDonald ran for 95 yards and the Tigers totaled 275 yards and four rushing touchdowns. McDonald completed 6 of 11 passes for 75 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Czavian Teasett had 127 yards passing and 56 yards rushing for Southern. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballNikola Corp NKLA shares are trading lower Thursday following a report indicating the company confirmed another round of layoffs . What Happened: Nikola has confirmed a fresh round of layoffs just months after the company slashed approximately 15% of its workforce as it attempts to avoid bankruptcy, according to Electrek . The report indicates that it’s not clear how many employees will be affected by the new round of layoffs this month. However, a drone flyover of Nikola’s Arizona factory reportedly showed “less activity than usual” and many trucks parked “without battery packs.” Elektrek also reported that Nikola is running out of cash and launched a $100 million offering, but noted that the company has not announced the closing of that offering. Check This Out: Stocks Slip On Hot Inflation Data, Adobe Tumbles, Natural Gas Hits 1-Year High: What’s Driving Markets Thursday? Nikola said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it needs to raise additional capital to avoid negatively impacting operations. “We currently estimate that our existing financial resources are only adequate to fund our forecasted operating costs and meet our obligations into, but not through, the first quarter of 2025,” the company said in the filing. The report indicates that Nikola is losing approximately $200 million per quarter. Nikola had approximately $198 million in cash as of Sept. 30. NKLA Price Action: Nikola shares were down 0.31% at $1.57 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro . Photo: courtesy of Nikola. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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What's New Iranian singer performs in online concert without hijab By AFP 12 December 2024 | 8:49 pm Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Telegram An Iranian singer was hailed as a hero by supporters on Thursday but faced prosecution after giving an online concert not wearing the hijab in defiance of the Islamic dress code. Parastoo Ahmadi streamed the concert on her YouTube channel late on Wednesday. She wears no headscarf and is bare-shouldered in a long, flowing black... An Iranian singer was hailed as a hero by supporters on Thursday but faced prosecution after giving an online concert not wearing the hijab in defiance of the Islamic dress code. Parastoo Ahmadi streamed the concert on her YouTube channel late on Wednesday. She wears no headscarf and is bare-shouldered in a long, flowing black dress. The concert, with no audience present, was shot inside Iran with Ahmadi and her four-man backing band on keyboard, percussion and guitars, playing outside on a stage in the grounds of a traditional caravanserai complex. Under rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic revolution, women must cover their hair in public and are also not allowed to sing alone in public.Ahmadi has built a wide following among Iranians for songs posted on her Instagram page, including audio clips and videos of ballads sung indoors without a headscarf supporting the 2022-2023 mass protests against the authorities. The protests were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. Wednesday’s video stream appears to be the first time that Ahmadi has recorded a full concert outside, as opposed to the more intimate recitals filmed indoors. A written message on the YouTube video before the concert starts says: “I am Parastoo, the girl who cannot remain silent and refuses to stop singing for the country she loves. “She tells viewers to “listen to my voice in this imaginary concert and dream of a free and beautiful nation.” In one the songs, she sings in apparent reference to deadly crackdowns in 2022-2023 and on other protests in Iran: “From the blood of the youth of the homeland, tulips have grown. “Social media users praised the striking quality of the almost half-hour video, which was streamed live from an unspecified location. ‘Shook a nation’ Without naming Ahmadi, the Mizan Online news website of the Iranian judiciary said Thursday “a group led by a female singer” had performed “music without observing legal and religious standards”. The judiciary has “intervened and taken appropriate action, with a legal case filed against the singer and the production staff,” it added.US-based dissident campaigner Masih Alinejad hailed the concert as “historic”, saying on social media that “her voice is a weapon against tyranny, her courage a song of defiance”. Prominent commentator Karim Sadjadpour, a fellow with the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, described the concert as an “act of extraordinary courage” that marked “another crack in the foundations of Iran’s rotting theocracy”. “Parastoo Ahmadi shook an entire nation,” said the France-based Iranian women’s rights collective Association Femme Azadi.”Iranian women are the greatest resistance fighters of our time. “The streaming of the concert took place ahead of a new law expected to come into force on Friday that rights groups have warned will drastically increase the penalties on women deemed to have flouted the dress code.Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday that women could even face the death penalty if convicted under the “Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab” law. “This shameful law intensifies the persecution of women and girls for daring to stand up for their rights,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” he said. ”And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy -- he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Over the past few years, fears about toxic and inflammatory "seed oil" have taken over the internet. Many experts dismiss this, saying studies show cooking with vegetable oil is good for you. What seed oil is actually doing in our diet is more complicated than either side lets on. In recent years, a war has been brewing over the fats we eat. Specifically, it's a fight over "seed oils." Are they as toxic as some health influencers believe? Robert F. Kennedy Jr, President-elect Trump's pick for , is a leading figure in the fight. He has a line of t-shirts, bumper stickers, and red hats dedicated to "make frying oil tallow again," arguing for places like McDonalds to go back to using beef fat. Nutrition experts say the discourse around so-called seed oils stokes unnecessary fear, obscuring the truth about what is already well-established about to promote human health and longevity. Professor Richard Bazinet, who studies how fat fuels our brains at the University of Toronto, says online discourse about seed oils being the "root of all evil" has exploded since 2020. "People are coming out and saying, 'Hey, the government's lying to you,'" he told Business Insider. "Saturated fats are good for you. Seed oils are actually what's killing you, causing cancer." Let's not get it twisted: butter is not the salve here. But the health benefits of seed oils are also murky. For centuries, people around the world have used local oils, some of which could be classified as "seed oils," derived from mustard seeds and flaxseeds. of those were bad for their health. These days, "seed oil" is more of a pejorative term than a technical definition, referring to oils high in omega-6 fatty acid, including: Canola Corn Soybean Cottonseed Grapeseed Sunflower Safflower Rice bran Some influencers call them "the hateful eight." Opponents of seed oils say that they are toxic and often recommend butter instead, which is rich in saturated fatty acids with only small amounts of omega-6. Cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, told BI he has found no compelling evidence that seed oils are harmful. Mozaffarian has authored dozens of studies independently investigating how oils rich in omega-6 impact health issues like heart disease, stroke, and weight gain. He said he has found lots of evidence they're good for overall health, lowering type 2 diabetes rates, and improving cholesterol levels. But he still can't convince some of his "very smart" friends to agree with him on this, including some nutrition scientists who say the concerning trends linked to omega-6 can't be waved away. A long-term of Eastern European countries in the 1990s found that those who used "seed oils" with a higher concentration of omega-3 had fewer heart disease deaths than countries that went with oil richer in omega-6. One thing all researchers — including Mozaffarian — agree upon is that we need a healthy balance of the two essential fatty acids: omega-3 and omega-6. These days, we do not get enough omega-3. There are clear trends showing that less omega-3 and more omega-6 in the diet is associated with , and operates on pathways in the brain that can encourage more eating, and tell the gut to store more fat. link high omega-6 intake with more chronic pain, , and potential mood issues while on omega-3 suggests supplementation can improve satiety and keep going strong in old age. Several scientists who've studied dietary fats at the National Institutes of Health told BI the internet's focus on specific oils obscures a deeper issue: omega-6 is infused in the American food system in myriad ways, distorting the nutrient density of what we eat. From processed foods at the gas station, to seemingly innocent, seed oil-free items like chicken eggs, our nutrition equation has been thrown completely off balance. A century ago, consumption of omega-6 fatty acids was less than 3% of our total calories. That changed after World War II, when new technology made it possible to mass-produce new kinds of polyunsaturated vegetable oils from plants rich in omega-6. Canada invented canola, and many cooks swapped out dangerous trans fats for this cheaper, more accessible oil. Food producers also started making ultra-processed foods with things like canola oil or corn oil. Suddenly, our modern eating era was born. There were some holdouts: McDonald's didn't stop using beef tallow until around 1990, but as vegetarianism and veganism became more popular, "seed" oils became the default inoffensive, dirt-cheap choice to manufacture, fry, and cook food for the masses. Today, omega-6 accounts for roughly 10% to 20% of calories in the average American diet, which is dependent on a backbone of soy and corn. It's unavoidable in our food system, and it's in prepared foods at higher concentrations than ever. It's in everything: corn chips, peanut butter, farmed salmon, even today's grilled chicken is higher in omega-6 than it used to be. Getting enough omega-3 to balance this all out would be a tall order. "We have a river of oils flowing through the food supply," psychiatrist and nutritional neuroscientist Joseph Hibbeln said. Hibbeln is an expert in lipid biochemistry and brain health, and studied dietary fat at the National Institutes of Health for nearly three decades. He has seen through his research how these oils increase appetite, and change people's taste preferences so food companies can drive up sales. "It doesn't have to be a conspiracy, it's just: you sell more food." Traditional Mediterranean diets, the favorite eating plan of most dieticians and nutrition buffs, had about a 1:1 ratio of omega-3's to omega-6's by default. There was plenty of olive oil, high in omega-9, but also a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids from foods like fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds. Still, Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, former chair of the nutrition coordinating committee at the National Institutes of Health, says demonizing "seed oils" misses the point. If most of your diet is ultra-processed, it doesn't matter what your McDonald's french fries are cooked in. "This was a problem that was created by agriculture and food industry," Simopoulos told Business Insider. This is not dissimilar from Mozaffarian's common refrain whenever anyone asks him if they should switch to avocado oil or beef tallow to prevent inflammation. "There are things that are way more important for you than to even think about seed oils," Mozaffarian said. "I want people to be avoiding super processed foods and to be avoiding refined flours and sugars." New alternatives to deep fryer "seed oils" are popping up, and gaining traction. Take Zero Acre, an oil company developing monounsaturated oils made from fermented sugar cane. The company has investment from Chipotle, is used in the restaurants of , and had a collaboration with Shake Shack. The oil industry is already bracing for a change in public sentiment, and not just with independent alternatives like Zero Acre. Simopoulos has consulted for giant food companies like Nestlé and is working with farmers in China to plant more traditional camellia trees for cooking oil, since it's rich in omega-3. She and Bazinet, the University of Toronto researcher, both said big food giants are pivoting away from using omega-6-heavy oils, favoring omega-9, which is nonessential and doesn't compete with omega-3. "Things are totally changing, and the sooner the better," she said. US health authorities speak in broad terms about nutrition, without diving too deep into the chemical and molecular differences between different fat sources. They don't make any scientific distinction between seed oils and other unsaturated fat sources, and they don't talk much about the importance of balancing essential fatty acids. Their unwavering focus is on prioritizing "healthy fats" in the American diet, like omega-3 from salmon, and cutting out butter, which is linked to heart disease. That general messaging doesn't sit well with seed oil skeptics, who are mistrustful of the health system and crave clarity on how manufactured food impacts our health. It leaves no room to acknowledge that maybe vegetable oil isn't the greatest ingredient around. Bazinet said, while the jury is still out on seed oils, some people may want to take extra precautions. Smokers, who are already under extra inflammatory stress, could perhaps be at elevated risk of health issues from consuming seed oils since their blood won't have as much capacity to oxidize fats. For most people, the same advice you've heard for decades still holds true. Eat a diet rich in whole grains, nuts, and vegetables. These polyphenol powerhouses are dream nutrients for your body. Prioritize olive oil — it's low on omega-6 but high in nonessential omega-9, and great for inflammation and brain health. Routinely add in foods that are rich in omega-3, like chia seeds, flax, or fatty fish. Because here's the thing: If you avoid processed foods that are loaded with sugar, calories, and yes, probably have "seed" oil in them too, all nutritionists would consider that a win. 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Honda is preparing a pleasant surprise for its fans - an updated third-generation Amaze sedan. This model, which has already earned popularity in many markets, now appears in a new, more stylish outfit. Thanks to the recently published teasers , we were able to evaluate how the Amaze design has changed. The car has a more expressive appearance that brings it closer to older Honda models. The front end is decorated with a new grille, elongated headlights and sporty air intakes. The rear end has also undergone changes, with aggressive taillights and a diffuser. The interior has also been updated to become more modern. The dashboard has become more concise, and the center stage is occupied by a large touchscreen infotainment system. The new Amaze is expected to receive a wide range of modern technologies, such as climate control and active safety systems. Under the hood of the new Amaze, the 1.2-liter gasoline engine is likely to remain, which will be paired with a manual transmission or a variator. It is possible that a version with gas equipment will also appear. The third-generation Honda Amaze will compete with popular models such as the Suzuki Dzire, Hyundai Aura and Tata Tigor. These models are in great demand in the markets of India and other Asian countries, where small sedans remain popular. The official presentation of the new Honda Amaze will take place on December 4. Then we will be able to find out all the details about this model and evaluate its appearance and technical characteristics. Subscribe to the OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.
NoneEdifier continues to establish its reputation as a premier audio brand by winning multiple awards at the esteemed Visual Grand Prix ( VGP ) 2025 in Japan , showcasing its dedication to innovation and excellence in audio technology . M60 wins Special Prize Winner and Gold Award Comfo C (EDF200161) and W800BT Pro recognized as Gold Award Winners MR3 and NeoDots received awards RICHMOND, BC , Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Japanese VGP Awards, often dubbed the "Oscar in the Audio Industry," are the largest and most credible audio-visual honors in Asia , organized annually by Ongen Publishing Co. Ltd. since 1987. These awards aggregate evaluations from numerous countries, providing consumers with trustworthy guidance for their audio and visual purchases. Edifier's accolades at the VGP Awards underscore its significant contributions and innovation in the audio sector, solidifying its reputation as a leading brand in the industry. Stanley Wen , Edifier's CTO, expressed his pleasure upon receiving awards at the VGP 2025. "These awards provide the recognition that underscores Edifier's commitment to product development and its mission to provide high-quality, exceptional audio products to consumers. Edifier is humbled to be acknowledged yet again at the prestigious VGP awards. This is a reflection of our dedication to excellence in audio innovation." The Edifier M60 was a Special Prize Winner and Gold Award Winner. The M60 is a compact 2.0 desktop speaker optimized for high-resolution audio reproduction, making it an ideal enhancement for any desktop setup. Boasting a total output power of 66W (RMS), it delivers impressive sound quality through its 1" silk dome tweeter and 3" long-throw aluminium diaphragm mid-low drivers, all wrapped in a sleek design that complements modern aesthetics. The Comfo C (EDF200161) open-ear clip-on design earbuds were a Gold Award Winner. Each earbud features a three-axis sensor, allowing flexible use in either ear for added convenience. Weighing just 5.8 grams each, the design accommodates various ear shapes and sizes, ensuring a comfortable and secure fit for all users. Additionally, the 12mm dynamic driver with a titanium-coated composite diaphragm delivers dynamic, detailed, and powerful sound, enhancing the overall listening experience. Another Gold Award Winner was the W800BT Pro . The Edifier W800BT Pro headphones offer a premium listening experience with hybrid active noise cancelling technology and Hi-Res audio support. They feature AI call noise cancellation, and with an impressive 45 hours of playtime on a single charge and fast charging capabilities, these foldable over-ear headphones provide both convenience and comfort. Also recognized was the Edifier MR3 2.0 monitor speaker system which boasts Hi-Res audio certification and a flat frequency response ranging from 52Hz to 40kHz, delivering a robust 18W x 2 (RMS) total power output. With their advanced acoustic design, precise tuning, and high-quality craftsmanship, the MR3 speakers are an ideal choice for home studios, video editing, and everyday listening. The final Award Winner was the NeoDots True Wireless earbuds. The NeoDots integrate Hybrid driver units (BA and 10mm dynamic drivers), digital signal processing, and active crossover. This combination provides superior, balanced sound with high resolution and low distortion, achieving an impressive noise cancellation depth of up to -48dB. With Bluetooth V5.4 for enhanced connectivity, the NeoDots support multipoint connection, allowing seamless switching between music, videos, and calls across two devices simultaneously, making them a versatile choice for any user. The VGP awards celebrate outstanding products that significantly impact the industry with innovative technology and design, highlighting Edifier's ongoing development and expansion of its product offerings. With registered international trademarks in over 70 countries and a globally diverse workforce supported by distribution partners and resellers, Edifier continues to strengthen its presence in the audio market worldwide. About Edifier: Edifier specializes in premium sound systems that showcase technological innovation and design elegance, delivering outstanding audio experiences through a wide range of headphones, speakers, and music systems, for personal entertainment and professional excellence. Established in May 1996 in Beijing , Edifier is the brainchild of a small group of enterprising music lovers. Over the past 25 years, Edifier has been guided by the "passion for sound" principle, which helped the brand emerge as a world-class designer and manufacturer of award-winning sound systems. Today, Edifier serves audio lovers worldwide through its distributors in over 70 countries, with operations in North America , South America , Europe , the Middle East , and Asia Pacific . More information about Edifier is available online at www.edifier.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edifier-scoops-5-honours-at-prestigious-visual-grand-prix-2025-302317109.html SOURCE EdifierMemphis fights off No. 2 UConn in OT in Maui Invitational thriller
DCS Wins Prime Position on $33B IAC Multiple-Award ContractSHAREHOLDER INVESTIGATION: Halper Sadeh LLC Investigates CCRN, ENLC, MNTX on Behalf of Shareholders
YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) — On a damp Wednesday night with temperatures dipping into the 30s, fans in sparsely filled stands bundled up to watch Buffalo beat Eastern Michigan 37-30 on gray turf. The lopsided game was not particularly notable, but it was played on one of the nights the Mid-American Conference has made its own: A weeknight. “A lot of the general public thinks we play all of our games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not just some of them in November,” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in a telephone interview this week. “What it has done is help take what was a pretty darned good regional conference and has given it a national brand and made it a national conference.” When the conference has played football games on ESPN or ESPN2 over the last two seasons, the linear television audience has been 10 times larger than when conference schools meet on Saturdays and get lost in the shuffle when viewers have many more choices. The most-watched MAC game over the last two years was earlier this month on a Wednesday night when Northern Illinois won at Western Michigan and there were 441,600 viewers, a total that doesn’t include streaming that isn’t captured by Nielsen company. During the same span, the linear TV audience has been no larger than 46,100 to watch two MAC teams play on Saturdays. “Having the whole nation watching on Tuesday and Wednesday night is a huge deal for the MAC,” Eastern Michigan tight end Jere Getzinger said. “Everybody wants to watch football so if you put it on TV on a Tuesday or Wednesday, people are going to watch.” ESPN has carried midweek MAC football games since the start of the century. ESPN and the conference signed a 13-year extension a decade ago that extends their relationship through at least the 2026-27 season. The conference has made the most of the opportunities, using MACtion as a tag on social media for more than a decade and it has become a catchy marketing term for the Group of Five football programs that usually operate under the radar in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and New York. Attendance does tend to go down with weeknight games, keeping some students out of stadiums because they have class or homework and leading to adults staying away home because they have to work the next morning. “The tradeoff is the national exposure,” Buffalo coach Pete Lembo said. “You know November nights midweek the average fan is going to park on the couch, have a bowl of chips and salsa out in front, and watch the game from there." When the Bulls beat Ball State 51-48 in an overtime thriller on a Tuesday night earlier this month, the announced attendance was 12,708 and that appeared to be generous. There were many empty seats after halftime. “You watch the games on TV, the stadiums all look like this,” Buffalo fan Jeff Wojcicki said. “They are not packed, but it’s the only game on, and you know where to find it.” Sleep and practice schedules take a hit as well, creating another wave of challenges for students to attend class and coaches to prepare without the usual rhythm of preparing all week to play on Saturday. “Last week when we played at Ohio in Athens, we had a 4-four bus ride home and got home at about 3:30 a.m.,” Eastern Michigan center Broderick Roman said. “We still had to go to class and that was tough, but it's part of what you commit to as an athlete.” That happens a lot in November when the MAC shifts its unique schedule. During the first two weeks of the month, the conference had 10 games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays exclusively. This week, there were five games on Tuesday and Wednesday while only one was left in the traditional Saturday slot with Ball State hosting Bowling Green. Next week, Toledo plays at Akron and Kent State visits Buffalo on Tuesday night before the MAC schedule wraps up with games next Friday and Saturday to determine which teams will meet in the conference title game on Dec. 7 in Detroit. In all, MAC teams will end up playing about 75% of their games on a Saturday and the rest on November weeknights. When the Eagles wrapped up practice earlier this week, two days before they played the Bulls, tight end Jere Getzinger provided some insight into the effects of the scheduling quirk. “It's Monday, but for us it's like a Thursday,” he said. Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler said he frankly has a hard time remembering what day it is when the schedule shift hits in November. “The entire week gets turned upside down,” Loeffler said. “It’s wild, but it’s great for the league because there’s two days a week this time of year that people around the country will watch MAC games.” AP freelance writer Jonah Bronstein contributed to this report. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballBrianna LaPaglia ’s nickname has been around for longer than you might think. In fact, the social media starcan trace her “Chickenfry” moniker—which made headlines amid her romance with now-ex Zach Bryan —back to the days of Vine, the beloved yet short-lived, short-form video app that was officially sunset in 2017. “I made a Vine where I thought my leg looked like a Burger King chicken fry,” she told Joe Vulpis on his Lightweights podcast last year. “And then it went viral, and I’m like, “I’m gonna stick with the chicken fry name.’” From there, as they say, the rest is history. Because when Brianna attached the nickname to her TikTok username and her hangover videos on the platform began to go viral, she attracted the attention of Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy . “Barstool DMed me one day,” she remembered. “And I’m from Boston, so Barstool is like Mecca in Boston. It’s like Dave Portnoy’s God where I’m from. So I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh this is so scary.’” Brianna continued, “They DMed me to come into New York, and I went into the office—I got drunk before because I was so nervous—and they gave me an internship while I was at school.” The now-25-year-old, however, had a decision to make: does she stay in school in Cleveland on her pre-med track or does she pivot to a career in social media? “I dropped out,” she explained. “I was like, I gotta pick—I can’t be a doctor if I’m drunk online—I kind of got to pick one of the two and I dropped out and it’s worked out.” She added, “I got a U-Haul and drove across the country by myself and moved to New York.” This is not to say, though, that the decision came lightly. “I cried,” Brianna admitted. “It’s just so weird, because you don’t know if it’s gonna work out, so I was really intimidated and scared. Like I think I only had 80,000 followers when I dropped out.” A far cry from the 1.3 million she boasts on Instagram today, in addition to the 2.3 million she has on TikTok . And her gamble on Barstool turned out to be a safe one, as it led her to become one of the co-hosts of the podcasts PlanBri Uncut as well as the BFFs podcast with Dave and Josh Richards . And the latter two have become some of Brianna’s biggest supporters amid her tumultuous breakup with Zach, whom she’s accused of emotional abuse throughout their yearlong relationship. In addition to sharing a diss track about the country artist, Dave and Josh both sat with Brianna as she recounted the ups and downs of her time with Zach on BFFs . As Dave shared on X , formerly Twitter, on Nov. 7, “I really had no idea how hard @BChickenfry last year was until we recorded tonight’s episode of @BFFsPod.” “I know people have lots of strong opinions on Bri,” the 47-year-old continued, “but after tonight’s episode there can’t be anybody who doesn’t respect the s--t out of her.” Brianna isn’t the only star who rose to fame using a nickname. Keep reading to learn more celebrities’ real names. Cher For more than three decades, Cher was made to believe that her legal first name was Cherilyn. It wasn't until the late '70s, when she obtained her birth certificate in order to change her full name to just Cher, that she discovered that she had been registered as "Cheryl." In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One , the pop icon recalled her mom Georgia Holt 's reaction to this discovery. She said her mother, who gave birth to her at age 19, responded, "Let me look at that!" and then, recalling her postpartum experience, added, "I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break." Shaboozey The outlaw country star's real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze . He adopt Shaboozey as his nickname and later used it as his official alias as a music artist after his Virginia high school misspelled his surname that way. Austin Richard Post Congratulations to Post Malone , who incorporated his surname into his stage name. However, the rapper does prefer his close friends to call him by his real name. During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift referred to him as "Austin" when they won the Best Collaboration award for their duet "Fortnight." Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson Though the singer initially released a Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she felt the stage name Katy Perry —inspired by her mom's maiden name—might meet pop fans more in awe, awe, awe. Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more. Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel. Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music's Home Now Radio : "In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother's name, because I'm named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina . I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother's name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born." Kayleigh Rose Amstutz The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s onstage persona— Chappell Roan —has always been a “drag project,” allowing her to set boundaries and separate her personal life from the industry. Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her stage name in school when the teacher would confuse her and a girl named Helena. Since her mom called her "gigi" as a term of endearment at home, she told the teacher to just call her Gigi and it simply stuck. If you're looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead? Miley Cyrus ' bright smile is what inspired her childhood nickname, Smiley. Eventually the name was shortened to Miley and it stuck. Apparently the singer looked more like a Bruno than a Peter, so one day his dad started calling him Bruno. Ever since, he has been known as Bruno Mars . Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York. Jason Sudeikis confirmed on Today that he was named Daniel after his father, but following some confusion, his mom started using his middle name Jason to avoid confusion. Emma Stone ended adopting this stage name after finding out that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member registered under her birthname. Turns out Reese isn't even Reese Witherspoon 's middle name. The actress chose the moniker in honor of her mother, whose maiden name is Reese. Every artist has an alter ego, and Lana Del Rey just happens to be the persona of choice for the singer. In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not? A little known fact about 30 Rock 's Tina Fey is that she is actually named Elizabeth. The comedian made a not so subtle tribute to her birth name by naming her character Liz Lemon. This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg . Turns out the "Royals" singer is really into learning about the aristocracy, hence the reason why she chose the name Lorde , but with a feminine 'e.' Before he started shaking his bonbon for the masses, music superstar Ricky Martin went by this everyday name. It's hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly! Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam in an acceptance speech, which lead people to the discovery that Calvin Harris is simply a stage name. The DJ told Shortlist magazine he chose the name because his first single was more soulful and wanted something a bit more "racially ambiguous." Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to. Alicia Keys didn't always have such a musical name. Before he became arguably the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise went by this name. Back when she was born in 1980, this was how the future bigtime actress Natalie Portman greeted the world. Before she became a big-time TV star and married Ellen DeGeneres , this was the name Portia de Rossi answered to. Guess music superstar Elton John didn't think his original name would be a hit with audiences.
Strictly fans outraged over Shirley Ballas' 'bias' towards Pete Wicks in semi-finalJackson State tops Southern 41-13, wins SWAC Championship and berth in Celebration Bowl
NoneThe Raspberry Pi series of inexpensive single-board computers (or SBCs) built around an ARM system on a chip have greatly changed the landscape of do it yourself computing projects in the past 15 years. The germ of the idea came in 2006, when a group of employees at the University of Cambridge's Computer Laboratory who were concerned by a year-over-year decline in the number of computer science students and the skill level of those students who did enroll. Learning how to code had been part and parcel of the 1980s computer-owning experience, but in the 1990s and beyond, it became a less necessary skill. Introducing incredibly inexpensive computers designed for DIY projects that would encourage younger computer enthusiasts to learn programming languages was thus the catalyst for launching the Raspberry Pi organization and product line. The Raspberry Pi line is divided into four series of boards. Those are the flagship Pi with the most horsepower and connectivity options, the Zero series with a smaller form factor and fewer ports with lower specs, the Compute Module series for embedded applications, and the Pico series, which are very small microcontroller boards that don't run Linux or have removable storage, instead being programmed by flashing a binary onto the built-in flash storage. They're best for single-purpose uses, like controlling other devices. The Pico series has a new update, the $7 Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W . Let's take a look at what this board brings to the table with its feature set. What sets the Raspberry Pi Pico series apart from its cousins like the Raspberry Pi Zero series is that instead of being a cut-down version of the flagship Raspberry Pi, it's supposed to be a low-cost alternative to older Arduino boards. If you're new to Arduino boards , they're much more straightforward than Raspberry Pi boards, without the need to load an operating system onto it or worry about a user interface. Instead, you write your code in the Arduino software on your primary computer and flash it to the board. The Pico series works the same way. If you're looking at comparing the Raspberry Pi Pico to Arduino boards , though they're broadly similar, they use different programming languages and have different pinouts. Spec-wise, the Pico 2 W boasts dual Arm Cortex-M33 or dual Hazard3 RISC-V processor running at 150MHz, 520KB of on-chip SRAM, newly included 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi with support for Bluetooth 5.2, plus various security features with full documentation. As of this writing, there's just one professional review of the Pico 2 W available online, from Les Pounder at Tom's Hardware . That review is very positive, giving the board 4.5 stars out of five and noting that the addition of Wi-Fi was the big game changer. The review also praises the new model for coming with an increase in power while keeping the price low. If you don't need Wi-Fi, the regular Pico 2 is fine, but this is the one for your " internet of things " projects.Mediawatch - TVNZ's Q+A show finally got Christopher Luxon in last weekend for the first time since he became PM. Host Jack Tame made the most of a long interview, but there was not much time for other stuff in the show. Tame told viewers to head to YouTube to see the full version of his chat with outgoing Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr. The global free-to-use tech platforms do have their uses for local media. Likewise, the government broadcasting funding agency NZ On Air. NZ on Air declared itself 'platform agnostic' almost a decade ago, so it now funds programmes that can be seen online, as long as it is available for free. Last week, it announced it is funding weekly current affairs show Paddy Gower Has Issues to screen on Three next year - but also on the Stuff website, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. In 2025, current affairs The Hui will be available on stuff.co.nz, rnz.co.nz, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, as well as on TV. Some of NZ on Air's latest funding for tamariki is for the online platforms only - including new children's music and lullabies on YouTube and Spotify. But not everyone thinks young people should be on some of those offshore online platforms - including the government across the ditch. It has just rushed through legislation outlawing accounts for under-16s on some social media platforms . Media Watch on the ABC said most experts seemed to think the ban would not work, but they had not been seen much in the Australian media - especially those owned by Rupert Murdoch. News Corp ran an intense 'Let Them Be Kids' campaign for the law change, urging people of all ages to unplug from social media. Media Watch 's Paul Barry pointed out Australian media hostility to online platforms intensified this year after Meta pulled out of the bargaining code which returned big payments from Google and Facebook to news media. Casting an eye across the Tasman 'TIK TOK HORROR' screamed the front page of the Herald on Sunday two weekends ago. "Adding to young people's fears and potential dangers through phones and devices is highly irresponsible and unnecessary," a subsequent editorial in The New Zealand Herald said. "It's high time New Zealand takes the plunge - and seriously considers whether it should follow Australia's lead." Last weekend, the Herald on Sunday declared: "Kiwis want kids off social media." Three-quarters of people surveyed by Horizon Research and the University of Auckland backed Australia's age restrictions, the paper said. But Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden told the Herald on Sunday she was not considering an age limit for social media. It did not mention she had earlier this year scratched a 'Safer Online Platforms' proposal to extending regulation to social media because it could have been a backdoor to unwelcome hate speech laws. This week, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research - in partnership with BusinessDesk - put Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation at the top of its annual Summer Reading List for the PM. "The evidence is becoming overwhelming that social media and telecommunications device addictions are causing society-wide harm, particularly in children and young people," it claimed. The book carried evidence-based solutions that have been successfully implemented, the institute said. But New Zealand Initiative chief economist Dr Eric Crampton does not agree. "Each of us can use Google Family Link to control which apps can be used on our kids' Android phones, and to set time limits on them. The government could encourage public service announcements explaining how to use them," he wrote in the Herald in October. What have the tech platforms here had to say in the debate in the media? Next to nothing - either because they were not asked for comment or did not respond to any requests. Experts are also sceptical. Confronting big tech "We shouldn't touch this style of social media ban with a bargepole," tech commentator Peter Griffin wrote for BusinessDesk last week. "It was bad policy-making and badly written policy," Griffin told Mediawatch . "In the last week of Parliament in Australia, and on the last day, they pushed this thing through with 24 hours of consultation. They didn't really even consider any of the 15,000 submissions. They had already made up their mind." "We haven't seen anywhere in the world a reliable, private, secure age verification system ... because it's inherently flawed." But he said our government should mirror their Australian counterparts' willingness to confront Big Tech. "The Liberals as well as Labor have [encouraged] the competition watchdog, the ACCC over there. It did a huge investigation into the market power of big tech, and that is now starting to turn into policy. "Our track record has been woeful. We had an opportunity to partner with Australia on the competition stuff and the digital economy - but we've done nothing. "There's brinksmanship going on at the moment where Google is saying here in New Zealand it might take news off Google Search and Google News. Well, how about you do that? Let's see what happens," he said. Is the news media here compromised when covering these issues? It is an area of genuine public interest, but local media are rivals with big tech platforms in the attention economy. Also, our news media makers are trying to get Google and Facebook to pay them for news - and backing more regulation online as well. "There's a conflict of interest but ... it is an existential crisis that the media is going through. I think it's reasonable to be saying: 'Look at the balance sheets of these big tech companies. Look at how little tax they pay here. Bottom line - do you want a healthy democracy?'" Griffin said. "If you believe that a healthy media underpins that, what are you willing to do to preserve it and to be fair? "If you still want that public interest journalism elements in your media - and not just social media influence - someone's got to pay for it. And it's either going to be taxpayers or it's going to be a more equitable share of the advertising revenue that goes around news. "If they can't make it work, what are we left with? Facebook groups or Facebook pages mediated by Big Tech with all the algorithmic stuff that they're doing ... and making you pay for it if you do want to get that reach. "If you're 12 years old, or 22 or 82 - we're all faced with this manipulation. I think they've lost an opportunity to address those real issues that affect everyone who uses social media. "We've never had a nuanced, balanced discussion about these tech-related issues and the dominance of big tech in our digital economy ... for consumers, for media outlets, for how we nurture our democracy." TV all-in on TikTok In countries with heavy social media habits, media companies have already decided to join what they cannot beat. In the Philippines, broadcaster GMA streams its news bulletin live on TikTok and urges its top journalists and presenters to create content for it. "Many journalists still don't know how to relate to ... the mostly young content creators with huge followings who do not identify as journalists - but greatly influence public opinion," Howie Severino said. Severino, a household name as host of GMA network's current affairs show i-Witness , helped found GMA's Integrated News. He fronted a social media responsibility campaign - Think Before You Click - and partnered with TikTok and the National Commission on Elections to guide people to credible election information on the 2022 Philippines elections. That collaboration won international recognition and Severino told a recent international media conference journalists needed to understand they did not have a monopoly on the facts anymore - and should not keep online influencers at arm's length. "Would a carefully curated selection of these 'influencers' benefit from exposure to journalists and conversations on the value of verification? We must hope so, but first they need to be invited. "Journalists must now serve as models and guides for everyone else on the best practices. With our audiences shrinking and scattering to millions of niches around the internet, we better hope the multitude of new voices grabbing all the attention value the truth and know how to find it." Embracing social media seems to have paid off for GMA. This year's Reuters Institute Digital News Report found GMA's online news remains the most used in the Philippines. Analytics company Tubular rated GMA the highest-ranking media and entertainment company in Southeast Asia, with almost 28 billion video views across Facebook, TikTok and YouTube in the year to August. And it is not all entertainment and clickbait. The GMA News channel on YouTube garnered 1.1 billion views - and the GMA Public Affairs channel 1.6 billion in August this year alone. Embracing TikTok does not appear to have dented its reputation. GMA Network was rated the most trustworthy news outlet in the Philippines in a national survey earlier this year . And on-air ratings for its live TV channels are also going up as well. How did GMA do it? "What felt like a gamble was using our news personalities to populate the platform and to really try out what works. They were sceptical at first," Theodore Jason Patrick Ortiz, senior social media producer at GMA, told Mediawatch at The Future of Facts, an international media conference in Manila in July. Mediawatch was part of a New Zealand delegation there with the support of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono. "A lot of people in the media would say that we're not supposed to be doing this for the numbers. We should be addressing the problems in the world. But in the world of social media, maybe it's the kind of content that you're creating or the way that you're presenting it that needs fixing," he said. "During the pandemic, people had this tendency to not watch or consume news content. We knew Tiktok was rising. That's why we needed to look for something like the 24 Oras challenge - our version of the teleprompter challenge. "It was a duet with the reporters, encouraging people to be a newscaster and reading a report. "And the numbers spoke for themselves. We saw new people who were rediscovering the programmes, and then there were people who were already fans in the past, who saw it again. "We reached influencers that were not necessarily engaged with our news content. One is a pageant queen who built her platform on Tiktok teaching English grammar and all that stuff. She tried this challenge that we launched, and her followers dived in. So what you're building here is actually a community." Many countries have a problem engaging young people with politics. During the 2022 Election in the Philippines, GMA used online influencers to spread the message. That sounds like a big risk for a news company. "You are taking a gamble, but you choose someone who will agree that they will not be promoting a candidate because that will really jeopardise your credibility. "We just started slowly releasing information or updates, releasing more newscast reports on this platform, in our accounts, and then that's when we started rolling out the journalists. "We don't just create the content and then be done with it. We have to maintain that kind of effort. "Basically you're exposing your news personalities to people that need to hear your message." Should networks here do the same? "Be on those platforms, sure - but be prepared for the 'rug pull' that will inevitably come when the surplus of value disappears," Griffin warned. "That will happen with TikTok. And there's concerns about the ownership (in China) of it as well and we could see Tiktok essentially banned in some countries. "Experts in how to build an audience sustainably say you need to own that audience yourself. You cannot rely on X or Facebook to look after your audience, because those algorithms will change - and their business models will be tweaked to maximize the value they can extract from you. "Suddenly you're paying thousands of dollars for advertising on Tiktok now - and it'll be millions of dollars you'll be expected to pay in future." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Quarterback Brock Purdy threw without pain Monday and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan will wait until midweek to evaluate the progress of edge rusher Nick Bosa and left tackle Trent Williams as the team determines whether they’ll play next weekend in Buffalo. It remains to be seen who will and won’t be available when the 49ers embark on a cross-country trip to face the AFC East-leading Bills, currently 9-2 and the No, 2 seed in the conference. The 49ers are expected to get a practice lift with the activation of linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who will begin his 21-day window off injured reserve after offseason Achilles surgery after being injured in the Super Bowl. Cornerback Charvarius Ward, who worked with the scout team last week as he works through his grief following the loss of his 23-month-old daughter, may also begin getting work again with the first team. Are things actually looking up for the 49ers? One thing for sure is that the 49ers are looking up at everybody else in the AFC West but are still only a game out of first place with Seattle and Arizona at 6-5 and the 49ers and Rams at 5-6. It’s clear to Shanahan that any pathway to the playoffs would be as a division title rather than as a wild card, where Washington holds the final spot at 7-5. “You look at the whole NFC picture and if you don’t win the division, 10-7 is not guaranteed to get in as a wild card by any means this year,” Shanahan told reporters during his weekly conference call. “That is why the Seattle game was so tough, and that’s why last night was even worse. “We know exactly what the playoff situation is, but really all that matters is this week when you do need to go on a run and put a lot of wins to even think of that, then you’d better be thinking of only one thing – and that’s Buffalo.” Should Purdy be unable to go, Shanahan said Brandon Allen would get a second start at quarterback after he played Sunday in Green Bay. SNAP JUDGEMENTS 72: Safeties Ji’Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha and middle linebacker Fred Warner played every defensive snap. 49: When Allen at quarterback and Jaylon Moore at left tackle play every snap (along with Colton McKivitz, Dominick Puni and Jake Brendel) then you know there’s a problem with injuries. And Allen and Moore were the least of their problems. 44: Leonard Floyd played 61 percent — about his usual number — even without Nick Bosa in the lineup. With 3 1/2 sacks in his last two games, he’s a half-sack behind Bosa for the team lead. 33: Rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall Jr. played 67 percent of the snaps — the same as Deebo Samuel — and did not have a pass thrown his way. 21: Robert Beal Jr. played a season-high number of snaps in Bosa’s absence at defensive end and did not appear on the stat sheet for having a tackle or an assist. 9: Running back Jordan Mason has played 14 snaps in three games since McCaffrey’s return and has six carries for 26 yards. 4: Tashaun Gipson was promoted to the 53-man roster but still hasn’t played on defense in three games at safety. He had four special teams snaps against Green Bay. More to come on this breaking story . . .
Why we can’t VERIFY a chart showing UnitedHealthcare denies more claims than other insurersFederal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok as soon as next month, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law - which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Executive of Tyler Perry Studios dies when plane he was piloting crashes in Florida ATLANTA (AP) — The president of Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios has died when the small plane he was piloting crashed on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The studio confirmed on Saturday that Steve Mensch, its 62-year-old president and general manager, had died Friday. The crash happened in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa. Photos from the scene show the plane having come to rest upside down on a road. Mensch helped advocate for Georgia’s film tax credit of more than $1 billion a year. Perry hired Mensch to run his namesake studio in 2016. Mensch died as Perry released his war drama, “The Six Triple Eight." The film was shot at the Atlanta studio. US added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000. Friday’s report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. The November data provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. Stock market today: Wall Street hits more records following a just-right jobs report NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to set its own record. Treasury yields eased after the jobs report showed stronger hiring than expected but also an uptick in the unemployment rate. Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass NEW YORK (AP) — In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year spent $24.4 million to surround CEO Mark Zuckerberg with security. But the fatal shooting this week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. And experts say the task of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them is getting more difficult. One of the primary worries are loners whose rantings online are fed by others who are like-minded. It’s up to corporate security analysts to decide what represents a real threat. Days after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, police push to ID him and FBI offers reward NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly four days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still do not know the gunman’s name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing. But they have made some progress in their investigation into Wednesday's killing of the leader of the largest U.S. health insurer, including that the gunman likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene. The also found that the gunman left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Police are working with the FBI, which on Friday night announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. USDA orders nationwide testing of milk for bird flu to halt the virus The U.S. government has ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu to better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. The Agriculture Department on Friday said raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide must be tested on request starting Dec. 16. Testing will begin in six states — California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The move is aimed at eliminating the virus, which has infected more than 700 dairy herds in 15 states. Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were written on the ammunition used to kill UnitedHealthcare's CEO. That's according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday. The words are similar to the phrase “delay, deny, defend.” That's how attorneys describe insurers denying services and payment, and the title of a 2010 book critical of the industry. Police haven’t officially commented on the words. But Thompson’s shooting and the messages on the ammunition have sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere, reflecting frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care. Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats in Michigan are pressing to pass reproductive health care legislation before the party loses its majority with the new legislative session next year. A bill to protect digital reproductive health data including data logged on menstrual cycle tracking apps is a Democratic priority as lawmakers meet this month. Democratic women and supporters of the legislation say they are acting with new urgency before President-elect Donald Trump takes office because they don't believe his campaign promise to leave abortion to the states. The rush is also a reaction to Republicans taking control of the state House in January. Democrats kept control of the state Senate in the November election. Japan's Nippon Steel sets sights on a growing overseas market in its bid to acquire US Steel KASHIMA, Japan (AP) — The signs at Nippon Steel read: “The world through steel,” underlining why Japan’s top steelmaker is pursuing its $15 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel. Japan's domestic market isn't growing, so Nippon Steel has its eyes on India, Southeast Asia and the United States, where populations are still growing. Nippon Steel gave reporters a tour of one of its plants in Japan on Friday. The bid for U.S. Steet is opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and American steelworkers. If the deal goes through, U.S. Steel will keep its name and its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but become subsidiary of Nippon Steel.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $190,000 Position in Global Medical REIT Inc. (NYSE:GMRE)